| Page Views: 11,702 Last Visit to Olympic National Park: August, 2007 | Welcome to beautiful Olympic National Park by Ann75 - last update: Apr 9, 2008 |
The amazing diversity in one National Park | Beautiful sunset seen from the La Push area |
Olympic National Park is such a diverse and stunning world. No wonder they say there are 3 parks in one! You can enjoy the amazing surf and beautiful beaches, you will see a spectacular alpine country dotted with sparkling lakes, lush meadows, glaciers, waterfalls and North America's finest temperate rain forest.
Olympic National Park is a wilderness park, with much of its interior accessible only by trail. A variety of roads lead off the major Highway (101) to various destinations around the park. There are several scenic drives including the drive to Hurricane Ridge, along the Pacific Coast and through the forested valleys of the Sol Duc, Hoh and Quinault Rivers. This all provide glimpses of Olympic National Park's diversity. This is a park well worth visiting!
We spend about 5 days on the Olympic Peninsula and I am sure I could have easily spend 2 weeks or a month here as there is so much to see and do. Since we only had 5 days to spend in this marvelous National Park (including the time to get here and to go home) we would have to do some creative planning.
I quickly realized that it's a huge park with many different areas to visit, all with its own unique character. We knew we wanted to see the beaches with their sea stacks and the rain forests for sure...these two place were a must! Besides that we also wanted to see the Olympic Mountains, some of the lakes, waterfalls and maybe the Cape Flattery area if we had time. So, it was time to do some research and to decide what we would visit and what not. |
| The amazing Hoh Rain Forest |
|  | Planning our short trip After looking around and doing some research we decided we wanted stay in a place near Forks which is on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula since most of the things we wanted to visit were the closest to Forks. We stayed at a cabin which was about 4 miles from Rialto Beach. So, this was our plan:
*Day 1: Driving from Vancouver (Canada) to Forks. We would take the ferry in Edmonds which would take us to Kingston on the Olympic Peninsula. We wanted to include a stop at the Hurricane Ridge visitor center and drive up to Hurricane Ridge on the way there as it is quite far to drive from Forks. A visit to Rialto Beach after dinner for a walk and to catch the sunset if we wouldn't be too tired.
*Day 2: A visit to the Hoh Rain Forest including the visitor center, the Hall of Mosses Trail (loop) and the Spruce Trail (loop). A visit to Ruby Beach in the afternoon. After dinner a visit to First and Second Beach near La Push to enjoy the sunset.
*Day 3: The Sol Duc Valley with a walk to the Sol Duc Falls. A visit to Lake Crescent and a walk to the Marymere Falls. After dinner we would head out again to Rialto Beach.
*Day 4: We would take it easy in the morning as we would have quite a drive ahead of us the day after. We decided to go back to Rialto Beach and walk along to beach to "Hole in the Wall", a popular walk at Rialto Beach. We would stay there to catch the sunset as well.
*Day 5: Driving from Forks to Vancouver (Canada). We took a little time out to drive up to Hurricane Ridge to see the Olympic Mountains as it was a beautiful and sunny day! We would take the ferry in Port Townsend which would take us to Keystone on Whidbey Island. A stop at Coupeville and Deception Pass and some stores on the way home.
We did follow the plan above and have no regrets whatsoever. I know that there are many more places to see and visit, but we didn't have that much time and had to make a few decisions on what we wanted to see and do. We'd rather visit one area where you can do several walks and truly get a feeling of the area instead of being on the road all day just to get a few glimpses of everything. It is very personal and everybody needs to decide for themselves whether they want to drive a lot and "see" as much as possible or if you rather visit a few places only, but you really get to explore these places much more and get a real feeling of it.
I hope my travel pages will give you an idea of this wonderful National Park that is so diverse. |
So, how did I experience this park I really enjoyed Olympic National Park very much, it's an amazing park that still seems to be a little kept secret. There were no crowds like you find in the more popular National Park of the USA and Canada, it is so diverse and to me really worth a visit. I would visit again without a doubt!!!
I really enjoyed the views that we saw when we drove into this park. As we got closer to Port Angeles we could see the beautiful Olympic Mountains dominating the scene. To the other side you had some wonderful views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca which is amazing as well. The ride up to Hurricane Ridge is fantastic as well and when you get to the top the 360 degree view over the Olympic Mountains opens up in front of your eyes.
Another day we visited the beautiful beaches. Rialto Beach was a place we visited almost every night and it was a place I fell in love with! The waves are quite rough, the beaches are littered with logs tossed out by the ocean and rocks as well. The views along the beach are amazing as you can see several sea stacks along the water and a copule miles off shore. Very impressive to see and definitely worth enjoying a sunset along these beaches as well.
The Rain Forest is something I found very unique, something I hadn't seen before. When you walk through the forests in Canada you can see lots of mossy trees as well, so I thought I had seen quite some mossy trees...until I saw the Hoh Rain Forest! Wow, now those are mossy trees. The forest is almost ghostlike or fairytale like and when you get lucky with some sunshine it turns magical! If you do visit here, you CANNOT miss the rain forests!
We also visited a couple of waterfalls and Lake Crescent. The lake has such a pretty colours and if the sun hits it right you will see shades of blue and green, absolutely gorgeous. The Highway runs along the shores of the lakes and makes it an interesting drive. In this are you can also find some waterfalls. The Sol Duc Falls are quite impressive with the water thundering down a gorge, the Marymere Falls are more dainty but oh so pretty.
Well, I had a fantastic time and was very impressed with this beautiful park. It is definitely worth a visit, even if you have to come a long way! You should take out at least 4 to 5 days to get a really good idea of the park. I hope I can go back again some day! | | | The beautiful waters of Lake Crescent |
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| Pros: | "Fairly quiet and calm, amazing scenery and nature, lots of diversity" | | Cons: | "None that I can think of...maybe that you have to drive a ways to get to different places" | | In A Nutshell: | "A fantastic park with tons of sight seeing opportunities, lots of diversity, mother nature at its best..." |
Ann75's Olympic National Park Travel Tips
 Comments for Ann75 about Olympic National Park | | | | |
RockiesTraveler Mon Mar 16, 2009 02:56 UTC
Ann, how does the blue of Lake Crescent compare to the blue of the glacial fed lakes like Peyto Lake in the Canadian Rockies? Very cool pictures as always! I very much enjoyed your travelpage here and am looking forward to my Washington state trip. | volopolo Thu Oct 9, 2008 18:02 UTC
Ann you have the greatest photos in vt. Are you professional? | TheTravelSlut Fri Sep 5, 2008 14:44 UTC
Wow..you really bring back the great memories of the area and do it so well! :-) Ann, TS | Irina80 Fri Aug 29, 2008 23:34 UTC
beautiful pictures! just awesome! what kind of camera did u use there? |
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